Fishy Surgery or Euthanize?

hondaman

hondaman

Quisiera ser un fish!
Dec 15, 2005
260
0
0
New Jersey
Ok before I get reamed out for this one let me explain...

I currently have 6 Serpae Tetras in my 46g but there is one who somehow managed to get his mouth crushed in (his lower jaw is inward) and because of this his mouth is shut and he is unable to eat. He tries to move his mouth but since the bottom jaw is inward he is unable to open it.

I have taken a liking to the little guy and i know its been at least 3-4 days hes been like this and i know if i do nothing he will die of starvation.

I have done tons of research on the mouth anatomy of the fish and figure that if i were to try to "reset" the mouth he may have a chance (if he survives the stress). Now I wont assume that he will have full function, but at least he'll be able to get food in.

I have done similar things like this in bio classes back in HS and college but not on fish.

So the question is, if i were to attempt to do this:
1) does this even make sense?
2) What could i use to calm the fish for those few seconds?

or... should i just give up and euthanize before he starves to death. Other than the mouth problem, the little guy swims around and acts perfectly fine.
 
I have had jaw problems with tiger barbs as well. I have never been able to figure it out. I tried using a toothpick one time to move it in place and it was really stuck. I couldn't budge it. Needless to say, the fish died. If you think you might be able to fix it, I say give it a try. It won't get better by itself, so it is either do that, or the fish will die. If it doesn't work, you might just want to put him down.
 
I agree with John. The fish would probably rather you give it a try first ;)

What's the worst that will happen? He will die right? Well he's gonna do that anyway if you don't do anything.
 
Well, I tried to fix his mouth to no avail. Seems it was alot worse than I thought.

I just put him down.

:sad:
 
how?
 
Sorry to hear about your loss! I hope you used the most 'humane' method....nearly frozen water....bowl of water in the freezer til almost frozen....break ice, sick fish in....seconds to death.
 
So sorry for the loss. You did what you could.
 
putting fish in freezing water is painful and inhumane. best ways is to either use clove oil or a quick severing of the head from the body.
 
icecubez189 said:
putting fish in freezing water is painful and inhumane.
Click to expand...
This is absolutely false! Freezing water delivers a shock that instantly shuts off all the fish's internal organs. For tropical fish, this is perhaps the most humane form of euthanasia.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom